After 2 days of final sorting and packing we made it to the airport hotel.
Absolute chaosA little less chaosAdding labels and AirTags
The paperwork for the cats finally has been send out and is at the Fedex facility in Louisville, to be delivered to the vets office this morning. It should have been there on Friday so we spend a very anxious weekend not knowing if we are flying or not. Thomas will pick it up at lunch time together with the last bag from the house. Our flight leaves at 8:25pm, so unless FedEx screws something up we will be on our way to Germany this evening.
The cats are not happy about all of this
We will be staying with Thomas’s parents near Munich for a few weeks. We first need to register in Germany to get a EU drivers license. Italy does not allow us to exchange our US drivers license to an Italian one and we would have to take an Italian drivers test including driving lessons. Since our Italian skills barely allow us to order food we thought that was a bad idea.
Our luggageCelebrating that the paperwork is on its wayToffee checking out the view
Today’s the big day, the movers are coming. They are coming with a truck that has a 20ft mark; they will just load everything and bring it to a warehouse where it will be packed in a 20ft shipping container. We have two piles in the garage, things that we really want and things that are optional. I started packing four weeks ago but it still got a little hectic the last two days, we got up at 5am to pack the last boxes, but everything was ready when the truck arrived. The tricky/time consuming part was that everything had to be inventoried, so every box has pictures and a list of items that are in the box and I now have a giant spreadsheet with all our belongings. I thought after the fire we didn’t have a lot of things any more but boy was I wrong. At the end we had 18 large boxes, 15 medium and 20 little boxes, in addition to all the garden tools and furniture and other miscellaneous items that did not fit in boxes. Seriously, how do you pack a pickaxe or a weed whacker? I am glad we decided to get a container and not just move with what we can get on a flight. We still probably will be flying with 9 bags in addition to the cats.
The truck is hereEverything is wrapped in plastic because of “container rain”, it’s a real thing, look it up
Garden tools are wrapped
All done ! Most of the optional stuff, the barstools and one rug did not fit but overall it went well. Let’s hope everything will arrive in Italy safe and sound.
The cats did not like the movers and all the loads noises associated with packing. Sheila and Toffee stayed close to us when possible or they were out in the yard.
Sheila wants to snuggle and be safe.
Still waiting for the USDA certificate for the cats to be allowed to leave the country. I spent 2.5 hours at the vet on Thursday, 30min for an exam and then waiting for 2 hours for them to submit the paperwork. The certificate should arrive today but something must have gone wrong because I still don’t have a tracking number.
Luckily we have a Murphy bed in the guest room, so we will be staying at the house until Monday, then we move into the airport hotel until our flight Tuesday evening.
After living in the US for 30 years, Karina and I are starting a new chapter near Lake Maggiore in Italy.
We’ll use this site to share our experiences.
Friends from all over have asked, “How do we keep up with what you’re doing?” We’re still working out the details, but we’d rather share updates as they happen rather than send the same email over and over or let these moments slip by.
This is our first post, and there will be more from both of us. You’ll probably notice two different voices, since both Karina and Thomas will be writing here and sharing our own perspectives.
If you’ve found your way here, here are a few things to know.
We’ll leave the US on May 19 and spend a few weeks near Munich with my parents. In early June, we plan to move to Ranco, near Lake Maggiore.
We don’t have a set posting schedule. Some weeks might have several updates, while others could be quieter. We’ll post when we have something meaningful to share, so timing depends on what’s going on with us. If you want to check for new updates, looking once a week is a good idea.
Comments are open, and we’d love to hear from you. But if you’d prefer to just read along, that’s fine.
